Chapter 20

The fire danced vigorously in the night. Turning the last remnant of their memories into ashes. Alsi, Ceal and Serena watched on with tired faces as the flames engulfed their home. One would think that this was by accident. But that was not the case, on the contrary, they're the ones who started the fire. They had to do this to remove any traces of the demon that possessed Agyro.

Because of this, they didn't even dare to touch the furnace and upgrade their weapons. Since the demon possessed their father by his sword, it most likely happened during his use of the furnace. Because Ginknights literally craft weapons with their souls, the weapons they make are usually linked to that of the crafter's.

That is why Ginknights usually used an enchantment or held a charm before they began the process.

As for Agyro, it wasn't known as to whether he forgot to carry his charm, or whether he forgot to cast the enchantment. But none of that mattered now. They could only carry what they could and be on their way, leaving the ashes of their home to the wind. They carried their stuff in bigger backpacks than they had before. They started off to the nearest town, of which was Midgard. As to where they would go from there, even they didn't know.

They walked past the rice fields and crossed the river where they used to train. They continued their path, moving west until they entered the forests. By the time they got there, the early sun cast its rays upon them. The light shined through the warm colored screens of the leaves on the trees. All this time they had moved silently, not a single one of them uttered a word.

They might have experienced this loss together, but Alsi felt the worst for being a complete coward. A useless wimp that backed down with his tail between his legs. And here he thought that he had grown strong enough to face anything that stood in his way. But he was in for a rude awakening.

He walked behind Ceal and Serena. He couldn't even look up at them. The whole time they walked, he kept on looking at the ground in pure shame.

' They stood their ground without hesitation. And me? I had to be a complete loser. I want to take over this world, but with tough monsters like that one…will I ever do it?' Alsi mused as he walked on.

Ceal abruptly stopped walking. There was a short silence before he said…

"I'm hungry, and we still have a long way until we get to Midgard. How about we get some food?"

"We can eat the the bread we packed before we left." Said Serena.

"Oh… I forgot about that. But then we'll only be able to get there tomorrow morning. How about we take some time to hunt for meat so that we have something to eat in the evening?"

"Yeah I'm okay with that. What do you think Alsi?"

"..."

"Alsi?"

"Huh! Oh, sure thing. That's fine by me." Alsi said, almost sounding as emotionless as a robot. He had his cloak's hoodie over his head and it made him look unusually introverted.

"Alright then, how are we going to do this? Should we split up or move together?" Ceal asked.

" I think we should split up. We can catch more prey that way. But we can't catch too much, we already have a lot to carry so it'll only slow us down." Said Serena.

"Noted. We can meet here in about 30 minutes, I'll go this way." Said Ceal, pointing in the direction he started moving.

"Alright, I'll be going this way…" said Serena. Alsi just remained silent as his companions disappeared into the forests. He stood there for a moment as the trees rustled from the calm wind that passed by. He let out a heavy sigh and left the main path to go hunting. As he walked through the forest, he contemplated the past events over and over in his head. Replaying his humiliating weakness in that battle.

'Taking over the world…how am I going to do that with monsters like that lurking around?' he mused as he took a deep breath and looked up. He saw a deer run right past him, however it did not disappear as Alsi could still see it from a stone's throw away. He stared at it with an emotionless face.

'Is that even what I want?' He stood there for a bit until he exhaled heavily and continued on his way, totally ignoring the deer. He moved a bit further into the forest. He then stopped abruptly, he saw Serena seated on a rock near a stream that flowed gently. Next to her was a deer she had just killed. She kicked her bare feet in the water and her hair was tucked behind her ear. She suddenly turned her head and her eyes met with Alsi's.

Alsi immediately looked down, unable to look Serena in the eyes.

"Oh, it's just you Alsi… Guess you caught me slacking off, hehe.." She laughed weakly as she turned her head back to the stream of flowing water. Alsi didn't make a reply, he just stood there silently like a robot. Serena stopped kicking her feet, she just stared at the water with a melancholic expression.

"You've been acting strange lately…" She said.

"..." Alsi kept quiet and just stood there with his head lowered. Serena turned her head back to Alsi,

"Come sit down with me…please?" Said Serena.

When Alsi lifted his head once again, he found it difficult to decline when he saw the expression on her face. He quietly walked over to her and sat beside her with his legs crossed akin to a monk in meditation. The moment became awkward as they just stared at the water quietly, not a word being uttered.

"What's the matter?" Serena finally popped the question. Alsi kept silent, he hesitated to tell her his thoughts. He had never let anyone know what he was thinking before. All the thoughts and enigmas of his heart were always kept to himself. Now that he thought of it, he questioned his inner stability.

"Don't worry Alsi, you can tell me anything. If anything, you can talk to me as if you were talking to yourself."

Alsi observed his reflection in the water. His scarlet eyes under his hoodie looked back at him. He always thought there was something strange about the way his reflection stared back at him since he reincarnated. He took a deep breath and exhaled heavily.

"I'm weak." That's all he said. Serena tilted her head and leaned forward…

"What makes you say so?" She asked.

Alsi let a few moments pass by before he spoke once more. As he finally removed his hoodie he said,

"Didn't you see me back there? I was scared shitless by that demon. All I did was lay on my butt and I gave up immediately. While you guys tried your best to fight. Ceal probably thinks I'm a weak, sorry excuse for a Ginknight who's all talk and no game."

Alsi might be a self centered asshole who brags a lot. But when he did brag he never lied to himself while doing it. To him, he was perfection incarnate, but all that was thrown away in an instant. Now he had nothing to brag about except his failures, and that was exactly what he was doing.

"I'm sorry…I didn't try harder. Maybe Agyro would have still been here if-"

Alsi suddenly felt Serena's hand cover his lips. He looked at her with a somewhat surprised look in his eyes. Her violet eyes sparkled slightly as she released a mild smile.

"Alsi, I don't know what you think weakness is, but I'm only going to repeat what my dad told me."

She let her hand slip off his face as she continued.

" A truly weak person will always believe that their flaws are all they will ever be. A strong person knows that their flaws are only a part of them. A great person overcomes those flaws if they can.' she paused a bit…' so don't ever let yourself believe that weak is all you'll ever be."

The wind blew gently, the leaves followed behind. Alsi looked back at the water and stared at his reflection again. He let out a chuckle…

"How could you guys be so calm and collected after killing your own father? If I didn't know better I would have thought you helped the demon out." Alsi's insensitivity never ceases. However the question didn't seem to offend Serena.

" Believe me, I could be anything BUT calm right now. But knowing dad, he'd want us to not waste our time wailing like a bunch of puppies. He'd want us to move forward and build our own futures."

At this point, Alsi looked at Serena, her hair shimmered slightly as she removed her feet from the water and hugged her legs.

"Though the thing is, I don't even know where to start. Heck, I don't even know where I'm going. I don't know the way forward, Alsi."

"Now that I think of it, you said you wanted to rule the world. Hehe, that's still so funny to hear even after a long time."

"Hey!, it's not a joke to laugh at!...' Alsi suddenly looked back at the water…

'But then again, I'm not surprised at all. I'm beginning to wonder if I have the strength to do it." He said.

"Pffft Hahahahaha!" Serena let out a blast of laughter, Alsi raised an eyebrow as he tried to contemplate her weird behaviour.

"Oh my goodness! I wish Ceal were here to see this. The great God Alsi, being all soft and mushy! How cute!"

At that moment, Alsi's humble persona completely disappeared. Nobody knew when it would ever appear again, all that remained was the asshole we all know and couldn't even decide whether to love or hate.

"You insect! How dare you insult me like this when you were here perving out on fish!"

*Bonk!*

"Ouch! What the heck!?" Alsi said when Serena hit him on the head with a staff.

"I'm not like you Alsi…" she said as she got up and put on her boots. She then picked up her staff and her backpack. Suddenly she turned to face him with a cold smile on her face…

"That being said, don't think you ever got away with picking sneaks at me while I bathed. I've been keeping count, and you shall meet your punishment when you least expect it."

Alsi had never seen such an expression upon Serena's face. It made him gulp audibly.

"Now then, help me carry this deer back so that Ceal cuts it u-"

"You must be retarded if you think I'm gonna help someone who just threatened me. That would be blasphemy on both my part and yours. That said, you're on your own." Said Alsi as he walked with his hands cushioning the back of his head. Serena gave him a contemptuous gaze…

"Oh now you've done it, I was going to reconsider if you begged for forgiveness, but now there's no going back."

"Ha! Keep dreaming lady!" He said as he kept walking.

Some minutes passed by and Alsi showed up on the main path. Ceal was there waiting for them.

" I see you didn't catch a thing." He said.

Alsi then looked at the contents of the bag Ceal had in his hand…

"Three fish and a frog. What a good boy! I'll give you a biscuit later." Alsi spoke sarcastically.

" Atleast I've done something, unlike your lazy ass!*

"Shut up and help me cut this deer up." Serena interceded as she dragged her catch. Ceal's eyes widened when he saw the dead deer.

" See that. She's more useful with a metal stick than you with a freaking blade." Said Alsi.

Ceal chose to ignore him and start cutting up the deer. Alsi fell silent under deep thought. Before Ceal could make an incision in the deer, Alsi suddenly spoke…

"Guys, I've made up my mind now."

Every one became quiet. Ceal turned his head slightly.

"What do you mean?" He said. Alsi gave Ceal a solemn look. Serena was standing beside him.

"Guys I've thought this through, and I realize I won't be able to do this on my own. I need help."

"And what is it you need help with?" Ceal stood up as he spoke. His interest learly peaked despite the expressionless look on his face. They looked eachother straight in the eye.

"I'm going to take back my kingdom. And I want you guys to help me do that. I've already come up with a plan for this. First, one of us has to join the adventurer's Guild so that we can recruit allies who will help us. And then-"

"Forget it." Ceal interrupted Alsi. Alsi's eyebrow twitched at the rude behaviour.

"And why is that?" He asked Ceal.

"There's no way I'm becoming an adventurer and getting chummy with them." He said

"Not to mention, I'm a Ginknight. That's where my pride lies. There's a reason why Adventurers and Ginknights don't mix."

"But we need to find people. This is taking back a kingdom we're talking about." Said Alsi.

"Alsi, you barely know the current affairs of Amaris. Neither do you know the power that the current king has amassed."

" That's why I need you to be an adventurer. We need the information, I could have joined one if I didn't have a bounty on my head."

"This argument will just drag on so let's solve it this way…" Ceal's sword glistened as some sunlight reflected off of it.

"Convince me, with your actions and not your empty words." Ceal's blue eyes glowed slightly as he said those words. Alsi was silent for a while. He let out a deep sigh and drew his double swords…

"Fine then." He said with a solemn expression.

Serena watched as these two were about to go at it…

' Oh no…'